Credit default swaps (CDS) measuring risk on German, French and Dutch bonds
have surged over recent days, rising significantly above the levels of
non-EMU states in Scandinavia.

"Germany cannot keep paying for bail-outs without going bankrupt itself,"
said Professor Wilhelm Hankel, of Frankfurt University. "This is
frightening people. You cannot find a bank safe deposit box in Germany
because every single one has already been taken and stuffed with gold and
silver. It is like an underground Switzerland within our borders. People
have terrible memories of 1948 and 1923 when they lost their savings."